


Can he play?

by All_for_the_andreil



Series: Wholesome twinyards [6]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Andrew Minyard Loves Neil Josten, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Hospital, Hurt Neil Josten, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Kevin only cares about exy but what’s new, Light Angst, M/M, POV Andrew Minyard, Protective Andrew Minyard, Sick Neil Josten, Soft Boys, Wholesome Twinyards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:40:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27225157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/All_for_the_andreil/pseuds/All_for_the_andreil
Summary: Andrew finds Aaron in his dorm, doing something on his laptop. He looks up at Andrew without the slightest hint of interest. “What?”“Neil’s sick.”Aaron’s expression doesn’t change. “Sucks to be him, I guess.”—Neil gets sick and Andrew isn’t sure what’s wrong with him. But his pre-med twin could help, right?
Relationships: Andrew Minyard & Aaron Minyard, Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Series: Wholesome twinyards [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1981907
Comments: 11
Kudos: 641





	Can he play?

Andrew wouldn’t admit it to anyone out loud, but he actually enjoyed sharing bed with Neil. Sure it meant he kept waking at ungodly hours at night when Neil shifted in his sleep and sometimes resulted in Andrew kicking Neil down, but overall, Andrew liked keeping Neil close. Not quite touching yet, but he was working towards that.

He doesn’t find it weird then, that he’s waken up in the middle of the night when Neil gets up to go to the bathroom. What he does find weird is that Neil practically sprints there.

Andrew sighs and slowly follows. He finds Neil in front of a toilet, throwing up. It isn’t the first time Neil’s nightmares where too much. 

But when Neil straightens up and Andrew sees the painful expression on his face, that he’s very unsuccessfully trying to mask, and the way he’s holding his hand over his stomach, he realizes this probably isn’t a result of a nightmare.

“Are you sick?” He asks, watching as Neil cautiously walks to the sink and starts brushing his teeth. 

Neil shakes his head. “Just ate something bad,” he replies. Andrew isn’t that easily convinced. He goes over what Neil has eaten the day before and doesn’t find anything odd. 

“I’m fine, Drew,” Neil presses on, when he sees Andrew’s doubtful look.

Andrew supposes he can figure it out in the morning, so for now he lets Neil get away with whatever he’s withholding from him and just helps Neil walk back.

“Yes or no?” Andrew asks once they are back in bed.

Neil gazes at him, but nods nevertheless. “It’s always yes with you.”

Andrew rolls his eyes at him, but wraps his arm around his waist and keeps him tucked to him. It means he’ll most likely get no sleep, but he can live with that. Neil on the other hand falls asleep within the matter of seconds.

Andrew doesn’t imagine the low groan Neil lets out when he wakes up. He blinks at Andrew, his face ashen, and when Andrew brings his hand to brush the damp hair from his forehead, he feels how hot his skin is. He doesn’t have to be a doctor to tell he has fever. 

“I’m fi-” Neil tries, but Andrew points a finger at him in warning.

“Don’t even think about finishing that sentence,” he mutters grumpily. “You have a fever and you look like shit.”

“But practice – ”

“No practice when you’re sick.”

Neil frowns at him, but obediently stays in bed while Andrew goes to the kitchen to make him some tea and get aspirin. 

“What’s wrong with Neil?” Kevin asks when he joins him moment later. “Can he play?”

“Fuck off. He’s sick. One word about stickball and I’ll murder you.”

Kevin cleverly stops talking, sensing Andrew isn’t in the greatest mood. 

Andrew gets Neil the tea and makes him take the aspirin, ignoring Neil’s mumbles about being fine. Fortunately, by the time the dorm empties, Neil is asleep again.

Andrew hopes that the sleep and the aspirin will do the trick. It’s probably just common cold or flu at worst. Neil will be okay.

But when Neil wakes up again, he certainly doesn’t look better. He might actually look even worse. He’s curled up on the bed, his knees at his chest, holding his stomach, wincing in pain at the slightest movements.

“Neil,” Andrew calls him cautiously.

“It’s nothing,” Neil assures him, but his eyes are still closed and he’s frowning and Andrew doesn’t like it. 

When Andrew turns to leave the room, Neil lets out a soft whine. “Don’t leave. I’m sorry. Don’t leave me.”

That certainly doesn’t sound like Neil. He must be seriously hurt. Andrew crouches to him and runs his hand through his hair. “I’ll be right back, okay? I’ll just get Aaron.”

Neil frowns at him, obviously unexcited about the prospect of seeing Andrew’s twin, but when he sees that Andrew’s not negotiating, he lets him go.

Andrew finds Aaron in his dorm, doing something on his laptop. He looks up at Andrew without the slightest hint of interest. “What?”

“Neil’s sick.”

Aaron’s expression doesn’t change. “Sucks to be him, I guess.”

Andrew wonders if he could use his knives. “Aaron.”

“Andrew?” Aaron retorts in the same tone.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with him,” Andrew admits finally.

Aaron sighs but puts his laptop aside and gazes at Andrew. “I’m listening.” 

“He threw up in the middle of the night and woke up this morning with a fever.”

Aaron doesn’t seem to see anything wrong with that. “Sounds like flu. Give him some aspirin and let him sleep.” With that he turns back to his laptop, resuming his previous work.

“You don’t understand. He’s in pain,” Andrew presses on.

Aaron just hums. “Yeah, that happens when you’re sick.”

“Jesus, could you just go and take a look at him?” Andrew asks, getting little bit desperate.

Aaron glances up at him again when he picks up on his worried tone. He studies his face for a moment, then sighs again. “Okay, _fine_. It’s probably nothing, you know?”

Andrew doesn’t answer, just leads the way back to their dorm.

They find Neil in the same state that Andrew left him before. Aaron looks over him with skeptical look. “Did you give him something?” He asks Andrew.

“Aspirin.”

“When?”

“Like two hours ago.”

Aaron frowns. “Hm. It’s not doing much.” He walks closer to the bed. “Josten. How are you feeling?”

Neil doesn’t bother looking at him. “Fabulous. Leave me alone.”

Aaron doesn’t move. “Tell me what hurts.”

When Neil pointedly doesn’t answer, Aaron gives Andrew a significant look, that Andrew doesn’t like. However, he still joins his brother by Neil’s bed. “Neil,” he prompts him softly. 

Neil opens his eyes at last. “My stomach,” he answers then. “It feels like someone’s trying to cut me up.”

Andrew doesn’t want to think about the fact that Neil probably knows how that feels from experience.

“Move on your back,” Aaron announces suddenly. Neil frowns at him and so does Andrew. What does he think he’s doing? Aaron crosses his arms over his chest. “I’m trying to help you here.”

“Sure you are,” Neil sneers but complies. It seems to cause him even more pain and Andrew hates watching him like that.

Aaron kneels by the bed and reaches for Neil’s shirt. When Andrew realizes what he’s doing, he grabs his hand as fast as possible. “Don’t,” he hisses viciously. There’s no way he’s letting Aaron see Neil’s scars.

Aaron doesn’t fight against his grip. “You brought me here to take a look at him, remember?”

“Over the shirt,” Andrew orders.

Aaron rolls his eyes for the hundredth time. “Uh, fine, whatever. Josten, tell me if it hurts.” And with that he starts to lightly press against different parts of Neil’s stomach. 

Neil stays quiet, but surprisingly allows Aaron to examine him.

“Does it hurt when I press here?” Aaron asks.

“No.”

“What about here?”

Neil clenches his teeth, trying to mask the pain. “ _No_ ,” he says but it’s an obvious lie.

Aaron gives him an unconvinced look and presses at the same spot again. Neil yelps, unable to hide the hiss of pain this time. “Fuck you.”

Aaron ignores him and turns to Andrew instead. “It looks like appendicitis. He has to go to the hospital.”

Andrew momentarily freezes. Hospital. This isn’t just a cold. “Okay,” he says slowly. Hospital. What does he need? He has to pack Neil some things. Hospital. Oh, god. 

“No. No hospitals. I don’t want to,” Neil whines. Aaron doesn’t pay any attention to him and Andrew’s busy thinking about what they might need. It’s only when Neil’s tone gets panicky, that Andrew starts processing the words. “Drew. Don’t make me go.”

Andrew and Aaron exchange looks. “Pack. I’ll deal with him,” Aaron tells him.

Andrew doesn’t exactly believes Aaron will be able to deal with Neil, but he knows they shouldn’t prolong this.

Aaron turns to Neil and to Andrew’s surprise, when he speaks, his voice isn’t sneery anymore. “Josten. Listen to me. Do you know what appendicitis is? It’s an infection in your appendix and if it’s not operated it could rupture. You could die from that. Do you want to risk that?”

Neil looks at him with wide eyes and shakes his head. 

“Good. The procedure is trivial. It takes not even an hour and then it’s done. Nothing can go wrong. They’ll most likely let you go the next day. Okay?”

Neil doesn’t look excited about it, but nods.

“Great. Will you let Andrew drive you to the hospital or do we need to call you an ambulance to sedate you?”

Neil sighs, hugging his stomach a little tighter. “Fine.”

Andrew doesn’t have time to be impressed by Aaron. He packs Neil’s bag, helps him into a hoodie (Aaron fortunately doesn’t point out it’s obviously Andrew’s) and along with Aaron they get him to the car.

Neil’s in the backseat with Aaron and for once they aren’t arguing. Neil has his head rested against the window and Aaron is gazing between him and Andrew.

Andrew drives a little bit too fast, but it doesn’t matter. He’s gripping at the wheel a little too tightly but he doesn’t care. He’s clenching his teeth too much and it will get him a headache, but that’s not important.

“How did this happen?” Andrew asks sternly. 

Aaron shrugs. “The appendix can rupture due to many reasons, most likely due to some kind of pressure, like during practice or sex.”

Andrew glowers at him in the rearview mirror. 

“What? I’m just retelling you my textbook. It can happen spontaneously as well. It’s quite common actually.”

Andrew thinks over the last weekend when they were in Columbia. Neil didn’t complain about anything after sex. He didn’t seem to be in any kind of pain. Maybe Andrew just hasn’t noticed. Maybe Andrew hurt him and didn’t even know.

He grips at the wheel a even tighter.

“Drew. It’s not your fault,” Neil assures him from his half-slumber state.

“I have never wanted to hear less about a situation in my life,” Aaron mutters.

Once they get to the hospital and get Neil admitted, Andrew momentarily relaxes. It’s out of his hands for now. But it doesn’t take particularly long for the panic to creep back in. What if something goes wrong in the surgery?

“I’ll call coach and let him know we’re at the hospital,” Aaron announces. 

Andrew nods, mindlessly stirring the coffee Aaron brought him. He somehow didn’t realize how many things can go wrong. 

“Hey. He’s going to be fine. It’s an easy surgery,” Aaron reminds him.

He nods again, not really listening. 

“Andrew. Stop freaking out.”

“I’m not freaking out,” he hisses.

“Uh-um. He’ll be out in an hour. There’s nothing to worry about.”

Andrew just waves him off, although he knows Aaron is probably right. Aaron just shakes his head at him and goes to call coach and the other Foxes.

That results in the whole team storming to the hospital lobby fifteen minutes later, Kevin in front, looking almost as panicked as Andrew.

“He’ll be able to play, right?” He keeps asking Aaron. “We can’t afford to lose a striker.”

Andrew has had enough. He’s tired, worried and very annoyed with Kevin. He stands up from where he was sitting on one of the plastic chairs and marches to Kevin, snapping his fingers in front of his face to get his attention.

“If you ask whether he can play one more time I will cut out your tongue, Day. Are we clear?”

Kevin blinks at him, but even he isn’t stupid enough to challenge Andrew in this state. He nods and fortunately shuts up. 

Andrew pretends he doesn’t see how the Foxes look at him after that. 

When they finally announce Neil’s name, they all get up and together move to his room, but everyone collectively stops in front of the door and lets Andrew go first. The only response from Andrew is a slightly murderous look.

Neil is still asleep and it takes all of Andrew’s self control to stay calm. He also has a weird urge to go sit by the bed and hold his hand. Maybe he would, if he didn’t hear the rest of the Foxes to walk in after him. Therefore he just retreats to the back of the room and impatiently waits for Neil to wake up, ignoring Foxes’ chatter.

It doesn’t take long for Neil to stir and slowly open his eyes, blinking at all of them. They immediately move around the bed, blocking Andrew’s view.

He still hears Neil’s slightly sleepy voice, asking: “Where’s ‘ndrew?”

Andrew’s out of his spot at once and pushes through the team to Neil. When Neil sees him, he smiles widely, with his stupid loopy smile that Andrew pretends he hates. “Hi.”

Andrew didn’t realize how tensed he was until now, when he finally lets himself relax. Neil is here and he’s okay. 

And when Neil reaches his hand out to Andrew, Andrew takes it without a second thought.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading 😊


End file.
